


The Bones of St. Nicholas

by Maverick



Category: The Librarians (TV 2014)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-20
Updated: 2015-12-20
Packaged: 2018-05-07 21:18:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,432
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5471096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maverick/pseuds/Maverick
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Santa comes to town a few months early. Colonel Baird needs a drink.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Bones of St. Nicholas

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Sanj](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sanj/gifts).



> Sanj,
> 
> I hope you enjoy this bit of silliness. This is not the story I intended to write, but it is the story that wanted to be written. Happy Yule. I hope you have a joyous holiday. 
> 
> Thanks as always to my beta for whipping both the story and me into shape.

Eve took a deep breath at the loud thump and what she really hoped wasn’t a whinny from the hall outside her office. Seriously, Cassandra and Jones should not be able to get into that much trouble without leaving the Library. And where was Stone with her coffee? She looked up from her desk to see a figure standing in front of her. “Oh no. Return to sender. It’s just the first of May.”

“Santa needs Colonel Baird’s help again.”

“Again? Didn’t I do enough last time? Shouldn’t you be off riding the rails, collecting goodwill?”

“It seems you have confused Santa with a hobo. Santa provides his own transportation, as Colonel Baird well knows.”

Stone walked in and handed Eve her cup of coffee. It was like he didn’t even see Nick standing there in front of him. Oh wait, he didn’t. Nick and his tricks. Stone looked over at Eve and took a drink of his coffee. He hooked his thumb toward the open door behind him. “Is that Santa’s sleigh in the foyer?”

As if coming out from the shadows, Nick stepped forward and put his hand out to Jake. “Indeed it is, Jake Stone. Santa was happy to see you publishing in your own name.”

Jake set down his coffee on Eve’s desk and shook Santa’s hand. “Thanks. It was time.“

After a quick gulp, Eve set her coffee down too, wishing there’d been a shot of something stronger in it. “What exactly do you need, Nick?”

“I need the Librarians to steal something back for me.”

“Did I hear you say you needed help stealing?”

Of course, Jones would appear as if out of thin air at that. It appeared Jones and Nick had that in common. Eve rubbed her temples.

Santa put his hand on Ezekiel’s shoulder. “Ezekiel Jones should not still be that gleeful about the prospect of stealing when he is so close to making the nice list.”

Jones shrugged. “Leopard and spots and all that. What needs pinching, mate?”

“Where did everyone go? I thought we were. . . Santa,” Cassandra ran over and threw her arms around Santa’s middle.

Santa kissed the top of Cassandra’s head. “Good morning, Cassandra Cillian. As always you are a ray of sunshine, my dear.”

Eve rolled her eyes. “Get to the point, Nick.”

“The bones of St. Nicholas have gone missing.”

God, she really wished she had something stronger in her coffee. “Bones?” Only this job. “You want us to steal back your skeleton?”

“Not mine obviously, but the physical incarnation of St. Nicholas.” Santa signaled for Jake to finish for him. Then he, Jones, and Cassandra sat down in the leather wing chairs beside Eve’s desk to listen.

Cocking his hip against the corner of the desk, Jake picked up where Santa left off. “St. Nicholas was a Greek Bishop from the 4th century who lived in Turkey. Little is known about his life, but it is said he inherited money from his wealthy parents and he spent his life giving it away to the poor and less fortunate. There’s a great legend about him saving three sisters from being sold into slavery by tossing bags of gold through their father’s window to pay for their wedding dowries. Some of the stories say that the money came down the chimney and landed in stockings hanging to dry but…”

Eve made a stop sign with her hand. “Less stockings, more bones.”

Jake glared back at her. “Fine. After Nicholas died in 343 AD, he was laid to rest in Myra, Greece. It became a popular pilgrimage site. But then in 1087 AD, Italian sailors stole his body, and they brought it back to Italy where it was entombed in Bari.”

Eve was trying to be patient, she really was. “Is there a point to this?”

Jake and Santa looked at each other. Jake continued. “His bones are said to leak a sweet smelling liquid called manna.”

Eve stopped him again. “His bones leak?”

“Do you want to hear the rest of this or not,” Jake said with another glare.

Eve signaled for him to continue. “Every May 9th, a delegation of priests from both the Catholic and Orthodox church open his crypt and extract a cup or two of manna, which is said to contain healing powers.”

Jones raised his hand, “Please tell me people don’t drink the bone juice?”

Eve had to swallow a snort. She wouldn’t have phrased it quite that way, but she was thinking the same thing.

Stone turned to Jones with a look that said, ‘what exactly is wrong with you?’ “No, people don’t drink the _bone juice_. The manna, which is said to be pure crystal clear water, is mixed into large containers of holy water. The mixture is then used to fill small bottles to satisfy the requests of sick people and pilgrims seeking the healing powers of the Santa manna.”

“Santa manna?” Really?” Eve couldn’t help herself. This was all just too much.

Jake shook his head and exhaled deeply. Santa stood up and placed his hand on Jake’s shoulder in silent thanks. Jake walked over to the chair Santa abandoned and sat down. He let Santa continue. “Sometimes the Rector gives tiny bottles of pure manna as relics but only if the request comes from the top dogs of either of the two churches.”

Eve rolled her eyes. “Now that we’re done with the history lesson, who would take the bones and more importantly why?”

Santa sat down on Eve’s desk and kicked out his feet like a child. “Oh, I know who has them and why."

Eve threw her hands up in the air. “You couldn’t have led with that?”

Santa smiled. “I could have, but why would I? It is important that you first understood the history and healing power of the bones of St. Nicholas. If the Fathers open that crypt next week and the bones are missing, the power of the manna will be lost forever. ”

“It really cures people?” Cassandra asked, a hopeful expression on her face.

Eve caught the eyes of both Stone and Jones. They all knew why Cassandra was asking.

“It does. Much like my goodwill, the belief of the faithful over the centuries has been channeled into St. Nicholas’s bones and with the help of magic, that faith manifests itself into true healing powers.”

Santa slid off the desk and walked over to Cassandra and pulled her up into a hug. He smiled softly, sympathy rolling off of him in waves. Then he shook his head, “I’m sorry my dear, but the manna can’t help you.”

Well crap. Just another reason, Eve really wished her coffee had been spiked.

Cassandra recovered quicker than the rest of them. She smiled at Santa. “It’s okay. Who took the bones and why? And how do we get them back?”

Eve was again amazed at Cassandra’s strength. She wasn’t sure she could remain so positive with a death sentence hanging over her head. Who was she kidding, she could never remain so positive ever. Time to get on with it. “Great questions. Do you have any answers for us, Nick?”

“I do. I’ll explain the who and the why on the way. As to how and the where, that’s why I’m here. Everyone come with me. Santa’s driving.”

~*~*~*~*~

In the end, it wasn’t the worst mission they’d ever taken on. They had the bones back in the crypt and dripping manna within 24 hours of Nick’s arrival. Cassandra noticed a weird pattern in the wall that led to a secret room with a vault. Jones did the literal safecracking while Nick and Stone started a bar fight or “provided a distraction” as Nick called it. And Eve did what Nick had asked. She didn’t go after the thief, even though she really wanted to. Nick explained the neither the thief’s money nor the bones of St. Nicholas could save his life. The _bone juice_ just didn’t work that way.

Now, they were all back at the Library. Nick had dropped them off before he’d flown off to pester someone else, or gather goodwill or something. However, Eve was not surprised to find a gift on her desk. Nick was not at all subtle. She opened up the red bowed box much like she was defusing a bomb. She took the lid off and inside was a bottle of 30 year-old scotch with a note attached to it. “For your coffee. It wasn’t a Christmas Wish, but it’s a start. Until we meet again, -S.”


End file.
